Uddhav Thackeray Compares Jamia Crackdown To Jallianwala Bagh Amid Citizenship Showdown

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday hit out at the Narendra Modi government over the alleged police atrocities against students of Jamia Millia Islamia University. Speaking at an event in Nagpur, the Maharashtra Chief Minister compared the Jamia crackdown with Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919. “India will be the country of largest youth. By 2022. It is youth bomb and don't try to explode that,” Thackeray was quoted as saying. Nation is witnessing massive solidarity campus protests after the brutal police crackdown on students of Jamia on Sunday. It should be noted that the Shiv Sena had voted in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha and staged walkout in Rajya Sabha.

Earlier, on questions of CAA implementation, Maharashtra Minister and Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat had said, “We will follow the policy of our party's central leadership.” Thorat was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Many saw Shiv Sena walking out of the proceedings as middle path to placate its ‘frenemy’ BJP.

After West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee voiced her opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Bill, her Punjab and Kerala counterparts have also expressed their apprehensions regarding the contentious legislation. Much before Parliament’s nod to the bill, Mamata had made her stand clear about the bill. Addressing a gathering in Kharagpur, she had said, “Don’t be scared of CAB (Citizenship Amendment Bill). We are with you. As long as we are here nobody can impose anything on you.”

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police arrested 10 people in connection with the Sunday violence in vicinity of Jamia Millia Islamia university on Tuesday. The clashes sparked massive protests across campuses in India with students demanding rollback of the Citizenship Amendment Act and probe into police brutality. The Delhi Police said that the 10 people, who have been arrested, have criminal background. News Nation has learnt that out of these 10 individuals, three are known as ‘bad characters’ in the area. The police has also distinctively said that no student of the Jamia Millia Islamia university has been arrested. The cops said that the arrests were made after probing the CCTV footages of December 15. The cops further said that more arrests are likely to be made in coming days.

On Sunday, the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act turned violent, which soon engulfed the Jamia campus. Students were dragged out form the central library, thrashed. Though the police have claimed that several videos circulating on social media are unverifiable and some of them present a distorted version of the events that unfolded on Sunday, the Vice Chancellor of the university maintains that the cops stormed the campus and intimidated the students with brutality.